


According to plan

by MatildaSwan



Series: The Gift of Time [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Community: sanctuary_bingo, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Multi, OT4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-22
Updated: 2012-01-22
Packaged: 2017-10-29 22:49:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/325040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatildaSwan/pseuds/MatildaSwan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the most carefully laid plans go astray.</p><p>Spoilers for <i>Sanctuary for None</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	According to plan

They travelled, the four of them, saving people and planets every second day; except Sundays, because they made the Tardis cranky and were just plain boring. Myths and legends were forged around them, songs were sung and curses placed. They cruised around time and space; travelling as they please and pretended that they didn’t have deadlines or responsibilities and simply _lived._

Everywhere they went, the universe showed them how much it love irony; imprisonment had given River freedom, death gave the Doctor life and Helen lost her home to gain another. They saw sunsets of silver, the birth of stars and the resurrection of civilizations. They ate ice cream on top of cliffs so high above the ocean you needed a telescope to see the waves and watched the birth of the first space whales. They saw places so amazing even Helen’s vast linguistic skills couldn’t describe them. There was even one planet that reminded Helen of her time in Lagos so vividly, she excepted the Nigerian Sanctuary to appear in the distance every time she turned a corner. The entire planet was a port; one giant seaport that stank of fish. When the three of them finally made it back to the Tardis they reeked of salt and guts so intensely the Old Girl had a fit and refused to leave until they’d washed off the stench.

It wasn’t all fun and games though; River went back to the Stormcage, which left the Doctor crabby. So whenever he set about vandalizing the control room he left Helen alone to conspire with Sexy.

*

They always waited until the Doctor and River were preoccupied, to set their plan into motion; those two had enough problems to deal with, marital and otherwise, without adding another planet to their list. Sexy was more than happy to help; she’d felt time cry as it gave birth to Helen. So while the cats were playing, the mice ran away.

Helen’s trips to Earth were sporadic but linear; they had to be, to maintain Helen’s time streams. The first of their ‘secret trips’ was to England, just after she had started running. Helen was thankful the Old Girl knew when that was; Helen’s memories were so blurred she barely recognised her own home, let alone remembering when she’d left the country. She contacted old connections, one’s she knew the young Helen would call on to help Nikola continue his work a few decades in the future. She was introduced to a woman, Anna, who looked so eerily like herself that Helen wondered if she was a shape shifter. Explicit instructions and coin were exchanged and Anna left the meeting as Helen Heathering, or Bancroft depending on her preference of the week, and Magnus left with smile on her face.

The next visit wasn’t even a secret; all three of travelled to New York for a few days, so a gushing River Song could meet Nikola Tesla. Although the highlight for Helen was Nikola’s face when he and the Doctor went brain to brain and he lost. The following ventures were carefully selected by the Old Girl, crucial times and key events. Helen scouted around the globe while the Old Girl played Lookout; which she was exceptionally good at, with one exception.

Unbeknownst to Helen, while she was touching base with her doppelganger in Australia, the Doctor received a distress call on the psychic paper asking for River Song’s help. The Doctor, not knowing that Helen wasn’t onboard, and Sexy, fulfilling her promise to keep Helen’s cover, locked onto the coordinates and dematerialized immediately, leaving the brunette behind in the middle of the Australian outback.

*

It was weeks later when Helen heard the Old Girl calling to her. Helen was in the kitchen, baking with Heathering, when she heard the Tardis materialize from the garden. She dropped the bowl and raced towards the sound, her heart caught in her throat.

The time Helen had spent in the dry heat had driven her nearly insane; she kept hearing the Doctor’s muttering in the virtually empty house and seeing the sparkle of River’s eyes in any passing woman. She’d barely slept since she had set foot back on Earth; the absence of Sexy’s humming screamed at her in the night. Helen used to enjoy the darkness but it tormented her now; she needed the faint glow of the Tardis to lull her to sleep. She had missed the Old Girl and her inhabitants so much it hurt, and she barely chocked back a sob when she recognised the blue box and the insane mop of curls standing in the open doors, smiling out at her.

She threw herself at the River, pecking her on the lips before pulling her into a fierce hug that knocked the wind from the other woman’s lungs. Helen smiled into blonde’s neck, the comforting scent of home filling her nostrils and calming her racing heart. River laughed as best she could with shrivelled lungs and returned the hug with as much vigour as she could muster.

“Lord, I’ve missed you,” she whispered into River’s curls; they already kept a millennia of secrets, one more wouldn’t hurt. River squeezed Helen a little tighter before untangling her limbs and pulling back to catch Helen’s eyes.

“I can see that love. It’s been a maybe a day for us, but it’s obviously been far longer for you.” She trailed off, waiting for Helen to fill in the blanks.

“There was something I needed to fix,” it was close enough to the truth and the best Helen could come up with on the spot. “I didn’t get the chance the first time around and the Old Girl agreed to help me. And I just, I really…” the brunette trailed off and threw her arm around River again, making no attempt to disguise this kiss.

Helen heard the Doctor make a small squeak of surprise somewhere in the back of her mind, but River’s lips were warm and soft and responsive against Helen’s. That was the part the boggled Helen’s brain, or it would have if she’d actually had brain function at the time; not only was she kissing River, River was kissing her back. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was too distraught with homesickness and loneliness and couldn’t think past the feeling of River’s breasts pressing against hers and the handful of nails racking down her back. She felt River’s arm shift and heard steps behind her, then River ground her hips against Helen’s and moaned into her mouth and she forgot. Helen wrapped her fingers in the mess of curls and felt a body press against her back. River pulled back with a gasp, Helen turned her body as best she could and was greeted with a kiss she returned with vigour as she tugged on the Doctor’s suspenders. She drew back for breath and rested her head against River’s neck; breasts on her back, hands on her hips and lips on her neck. She smiled as she was ushered inside the doors and felt Sexy humming in her mind.

 _Welcome home, my love_.


End file.
